The Makings of a Star
by Cathaign
Summary: Why is Rachel so self-centered? Here's a quick look in on her past, and then the immediate aftermath of Sectionals.


Title: The Makings of a Star

Fandom: Glee

Characters: Rachel

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. All recognizable entities belong to their rightful owners. I am not making profit on this work.

Summary: A somewhat darker look at the aftermath of Sectionals and Rachel's journey to becoming the verbose, crazy chick we all love.

She supposed that stars all had their moments of hardship to balance out their (inevitable) stardom. She wonders, though, if getting slushies thrown in her face every day is worth it.

She has no friends. She knows this. She hasn't had friends since her dads moved to this backwards little town. Some high schoolers had egged their house and then covered her Papa's car in shaving cream on their first night there. She had been six. She remembers that it was a Saturday, and that all the yelling and engine revving had scared her, and her dads had held her close as they huddled under blankets. She remembers the hope she felt that, come Monday, she'd have new friends and things wouldn't be so scary.

On Monday, one of her new classmates put gum in her chair. Another stole her lunch out of her backpack. Yet another ripped up her homework, right in front of the teacher. The teacher didn't stop it. Instead, the older, pinched faced woman glared at the young girl from over wire rimmed spectacles and told her, in no uncertain terms, that she and her parents weren't wanted in this town.

That Monday, she decided to become a star. Everybody loved stars, even when they did horrible, bad things. If she were a star, then her dads wouldn't have to bolt the doors and garage every night, and they wouldn't have to make sure that one of them could always, always pick her up from all her lessons. She would become a star, so they wouldn't have to worry about her so much.

As time passed, she moved on from that dreadful elementary school to middle school. There, she kept her head down and her mouth shut. All of her classmates from the year prior had told their new friends to stay away from her. So again, she was without friends.

No one in town would give her lessons. Apparently, these small town folks had not yet learned that they couldn't catch homosexuality.

Her dads took turns driving her to neighboring towns to her dance and singing lessons. Papa took her to dance exclusively, and Dad took her to voice lessons. That way, no one could get angry over her family. They always came to all her recitals, but in separate cars, and sat several seats over until they could fake meeting each other and began to sit together and discuss art and the lessons. She would become a star so they could come see her together, and hold hands and whisper sweet nothings like they did at home.

Then came high school, and her big break. Glee.

She was ready to be a star.

The day of auditions, even though Puck, the malicious football player who had been the bane of her existence since her freshman year, threw a cherry slushie on her white sweater, she knew it was time.

She changed and cleaned up, a routine she had perfected in the past year, and got ready to step out on stage.

When she did, she opened her mouth and started babbling a bit during her introduction. Inwardly, she kicked herself.

The teacher, a fairly young man, gave a somewhat skeptical nod.

She opened her mouth, and let her power shine through. She could do this.

She was a star.

Still, as time went on, it became obvious that everyone else was simply looking for a place to belong. That was okay, so long as they helped her achieve her goal. None of these fellow misfits were her friends anyway. They'd been part of the ridiculing crowd she'd faced for ten years. Maybe not Kurt, not that he'd ever talked to her.

And then came Finn. He threw a wrench in her plans. She felt herself starting to fall a little in love.

And he broke her heart.

That was okay. She was going to be a star.

Noah, no Puck, used her just like Finn had. At least Puck was honest.

After Babygate and Sectionals and all the other drama, the members of Glee, her teammates (never friends), looked at her as if somehow, she was the cause of all of this.

She met each of their eyes and said, "None of you have ever extended an offer of comraderie or friendship. Not a single one since I was six. What makes you any of you think that anything I did was for you? I'm going to be a star. Nothing else matters."


End file.
